Resilient Leadership in the Time of Crisis

Episode 3 with V J Rao, Leadership Coach & Anna Chandy, Counselor and Mental Health Advocate

We are delighted to invite you to another episode of Mental Health Strategies for Resilient Organisations, and this time we are addressing a very important topic - Leadership, specifically Resilient Leadership in the time of crisis.

This episode will be led by Anna Chandy and VJ Rao.

Anna Chandy - India’s leading mental health advocate and counselor, who is changing the way people view and discuss mental health.

VJ Rao - Coach who has worked with over 100 leaders, senior HR leader at various organisations and ex Head of L&D, Tata Sons

Register here - manahcompany.com

In case you missed our previous episode, you will find the key highlights from that session below.

Managing stress/Working from home Key Highlights
Panelists - Debasmita Sinha and Rashmi Singh

Work hours seem to be throughout the day, how to balance work and home

• De-clutter your headspace
• Important to respect other people’s routines
• If a person has committed that they are logging off at 6pm then that needs to be respected
• Accommodate everyone’s routines

The biggest issue people are facing is that the days are not ending

• Maintain a space in your house — “office of the house”
• Treat the office space in a professional manner
• Create a routine, have your breakfast and get in the work mode and get out of the work mode
• Get in the practice of creating a psychological space

How do you switch off?

• Indulge in something that is comforting to you
• Self care — having a drink or snack that you like when you are done with your day
• Listen to music that suits you
• Breathe for some time, stay in the present
• Having a designated time to do things in a particular manner

Leader’s perspective: how do you suggest that leaders manage their own space

• Ensure regular calls are made to employees
• Leaders have to create the trust
• Leaders have to go the extra mile
• Senior manager must ensure that the team leads are making calls to their teams
• If the team mates is going through a difficult time then it is necessary to have the skill to comfort them
• Communicate every single day

What are the signs to look out for within yourself of distress during this time — Red flags

• Look for major shifts in thinking and eating pattern
• Increase irritability
• Inability to concentrate
• Feedback you get from people around you
• Own realisation, or how your children respond
• Take stock of when people ask you “how are you” take a pause and think

Tips for people managers:

• Check in with your team
• How stressed are you on a scale of 1-10
• Point out if there is something that needs attention
• Encourage 4 things : balanced diet, hydrate, sleeping well, getting active

What role does peer support play in this?

• Since colleagues know what is happening in each other’s lives they are able to comfort each other better
• Peers understand, same level, earning the same amount of money, treat each other as the extended family
• Mental health is very important of the employees, daily calls have to be done for this as well

Uncertainty and anxiety

• Uncertainty and loss of control is the most discomforting human emotion
• Mantra: “Its all right to not know what’s going on. nobody has control”

See you all on friday!